Skift Take
Let's just hope, for everyone's sake, IHG sticks to its word here and lets Six Senses be Six Senses.
When InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announced on February 13 it would purchase luxury wellness hotel brand Six Senses for $300 million in cash from private equity firm Pegasus Capital Advisors, no one could have been happier about the deal than Six Senses CEO Neil Jacobs
"We're really excited about it," Jacobs told Skift this week, primarily because of IHG's strength in distribution and information technology, as well as development.
And although IHG's Six Senses acquisition is just one of many in a string of high-profile purchases that massive hotel conglomerates — IHG included — have made in the last five years, Jacobs is convinced it's one where the Six Senses brand can remain, more or less, as it is.
"The commitment from senior leadership at IHG is very much to let us continue doing what we do," he explained. "They have been very clear about not wanting to change the DNA of the company or have us go into other areas; they want us to stay focused on what we've been doing for the last six or seven years: to get all those hotels open that are under development, and grow the company the way we'd always planned to grow it. I see that as really positive."
Likewise, on the day the deal was announced, an IHG spokesperson told Skift: "We intend to maintain Six Senses' unique and special culture, just as we did with Kimpton. We will preserve the DNA of the brand and retain key talent, adding our scale and systems to drive future growth. As was the case with our acquisition of Regent, our deal for Principal Hotels in the U.K., and our acquisition of Kimpton, we are mindful to combine the best of
